Leveraging Technology to Overcome Energy Sector Operational Challenges

The energy industry is changing, with considerable progress in the United States due to government regulation and initiatives to minimize the country's carbon impact. Companies are realizing that using the proper technology makes it simpler to embrace new possibilities and challenges.

Fremont, CA: Recent government laws and initiatives have generated significant momentum in the energy sector. Energy demand and initiatives are expanding across the industry, from regulatory issues to technological improvements to renewable energy trends aided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax breaks.  

However, every opportunity has challenges, notably if a business needs more data, analytics, or visibility while managing its operations. The following are some of the most pressing operational difficulties confronting the energy sector and how technology may assist in overcoming them.

Contract Vagueness

Uncertainties may develop in how someone is compensated for weather delays, call-out compensation vs. hours, vendor-supplied consumables, off-site training, and other issues. Only complete contact information can lead to clarity, doubt, and overpayments. Consider the following scenario: a contractor files a timesheet for a weather delay, and the person signing the timesheet is unsure if it is an authorized cost but signs for the time regardless. When billing the client, the vendor usually includes this time.

Arguing anything like this isn't easy if it's not included in the contract. The correct software platform may assist owners in improving vendor connections by ensuring the contract has specifics. It may also prohibit non-contractual charges from being offered to the client for approval, and bringing all stakeholders on board aids in eliminating suspicion surrounding overbilling.

Unconfirmed Labor Charges

Inaccurate billings can arise when an energy provider believes it has adequately audited the gate but cannot authenticate all the information. They may compare gate logs and timesheets using Excel spreadsheets or a similar manual approach riddled with inaccuracies. Contractor expenditure management software collects real-time data from access control systems, saving time, reducing paperwork, and ensuring correctness.

Payments Processed Without Invoice Verification

This can happen when maintenance supervisors, outage managers, and project managers overseeing budgeting and bill approval need to view invoices. Managers frequently focus primarily on the front end of the process while failing to compare invoices that appear in a company's system.  

It is possible that the invoice does not match what the management thought they had approved. What if technology generated an authorized timesheet that could also serve as a vendor invoice, ensuring that the invoice matches precisely what should be invoiced? Discrepancies will be eliminated if the vendor's timesheet and invoice match.